Guys, 2016 is bonkers. Like completely bonkers.
We've seen El Nino stirring up weather patterns (and causing a large colony of sharks to phat chill along the Florida coastline). We have a Leap Year (much to my fiance's chagrin). The Summer Olympics are going down in Brazil (so is the Zika virus, coincidentally). And a presidential election like we've never seen before is currently in action.
Hold onto your hats.
Opinions are flying everywhere about who should be the next person to hold office. It seems like it's Trump vs. The Rest of the Republican Party. Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders are neck and neck in the primaries. Trump may or may not be running as an independent if he doesn't get the conservative nomination.
On the topic of The Donald, let's be realistic here: do we actually,
legitimately, with all of our mental faculties in place, believe that he
is the best person for the job? Do we seriously see him calmly and
tactfully negotiating deals with volatile nations, making good judgment
calls with our military, and handling Congress well?
Friends,
he's a reality TV star and a real estate champion. He's not a diplomat.
He's good at many things, but foreign affairs is not one of them (see
"making Mexico build a wall along our border" for more information).
And, regardless of your opinion of the US's involvement on the world's
stage, he will have to deal with foreign affairs (along with a bazillion
other things).
He may surprise us, but I'm not certain I'm willing to make that gamble. Donald Trump is saying all the right things to almost bully us into voting for him. Don't fall into that.
We've got our hot-button issues like health care, gun control, racism, ISIS, oil prices, and same-sex marriage. All the candidates have different opinions and different styles of dealing with these things.
The United States is at an incredibly sensitive place right now. Technology and the media is warping our world. We're constantly being barraged by opinions and ideas and it's up to us to sort through the noise to find something to believe in.
Our beacon of hope is not standing at a podium, arguing about policy. Regardless of your political sway, if you're putting your hope in a neurosurgeon, a lifelong politician, or a business man to solve problems, you will inevitably be let down.
Have your opinions. Stand for what you believe in. Please vote.
But I ask two things of you:
1. Despite who gets sworn into office in January 2017, show them the respect they deserve. Whether or not you voted for them, respect the task they just took hold of. And please, for all that is good and wonderful, don't make those "If so-and-so wins, I'm moving to Canada!" comments.
2. Realize that there is hope and power much larger than the White House. And his campaign is based on grace and love, forgiveness and repentance.
No matter who comes after President Obama, we will face the same problems we currently have, solve some, and find others. We live in an incredible country, but no earthly country is perfect. Let's handle this presidential election with wisdom, grace, and prayer.
